Worm's Delve into Lupin 2/?

(first post here: https://info-worms.blogspot.com/2020/01/worms-delve-into-lupin-1.html )
     

    So here I am, almost one year later, with a couple new Lupin things to talk about, and one thing I've already seen making a comeback as my thoughts have matured on it. Lupin's a franchise I've been really into, even though I'm taking things slow. It's not perfect, but I just really enjoy every time I dip my toes in. The three things I'll be touching on this post are the 2015 season of the anime (Part IV), the 3dcg movie Lupin the IIIrd the First, and a retouch on Castle of Cagliostro!

Lupin the IIIrd Part IV

(myanimelist)

    This was my first TV Lupin series. I had a lot of fun with it! It's also a huge mixed bag. Part 4 tries to juggle two things here, basically. The episodic nature Lupin as a franchise lends itself to, and a grand overarching plot about some goofy nonsense that kept interrupting the good episodic content. First I'll shower the praises on the parts that deserve it.

    Music's good, but a Lupin property having good music isn't a surprise.

    The visuals are top-notch. The production is insane. The character designs are clean as hell, they animate even better, and the color work is really FUCKING good. Part 4 probably has my favorite Goemon design, even. The pink haori really pops.

    The episodic content is really good. Single episode heists or focus episodes for different members of the gang or really touching emotional episodes abound. It's where the season really shines. Especially when Rebecca, the anime-original character - Lupin's brand new wife no-less! - is not around to drag things down.

    And this is where the cracks show for me. For every good episode, there's an annoying one, or dare I say even a bad one. The overarching plot that Part 4 is centered on, titled "The Dream of Italy", is so bonkers that it almost hurts, but it's played super seriously. That's not normally a bad thing, but I just could not find myself enjoying what was on screen because I had just watched some really good episodic content. Especially because Rebecca takes center stage for these episodes.

    And here's the kicker - if this Dream of Italy plot was its own OVA series or whatever, if it wasn't detracting from some killer time with the Lupin gang, I'd have probably liked it! Scrub Rebecca, cut the episodes out of part 4 and slap them into their own DVD, and bam you have a 7/10 on your hands. But unfortunately we don't live in that timeline.

 

    So as it stands, Lupin Part 4 gets a 7/10 for me. In an alternate universe I like it more, and it's still worth your time, just temper your expectations. 

Lupin the IIIrd the First

 (myanimelist)

    This movie is the highly advertised leap into the world of 3dcg for the Lupin gang. And I gotta say, this shit kinda owned. I don't have much to really delve into, either. The visuals are gorgeous, the character designs are perfect, the music owns, and the plot is so fucking insane in a way that's engaging and fun. Also, the story-original character, Laetitia, is really good. 8/10, give it a watch.  

 

Castle of Cagliostro TAKE TWO! 

    When I first watched Castle of Cagliostro last year it's safe to say I wasn't blown away. But the more I stew on the JP script and the film in general the more I've come to love it. It's really fun and though not as initially really good as, say, Bloodspray of Goemon, or other films helmed by Miyazaki, it's had staying power in my brain to rival that of Princess Mononoke. Give it a watch and then digest it. Just don't watch either of the dubs, they suck real bad.

I said last year that I'd be watching The Woman Called Fujiko Mine soon, and that's not a lie, I just haven't had time to really sit down with it alone, what with 2020 being what it is. I'm loving Lupin, though, and I'm glad it's a franchise I can always go back to and find more stuff to like.

 (How I rate things:
10 (Incredible): an absolute fucking favorite of mine. I probably cried a lot, and I revisit it a lot. Makes me big think often.
9 (Fantastic): Probably made me cry or think a lot. Enjoyed very much.
8 (Great): A series I liked a lot.
7 (Good): A series I liked a fair bit.
6 (Fine): A series that was fine and that I enjoyed enough.
5 (Okay): A series that was a-ok in my books. Probably fell short of my expectations.
4 (Eh): A series that fell very short.
3 (Ehh): Ehhhhh
2 (Bad): Self explanatory.
1 (Terrible): Terrible.)

quick post about how Katana Zero is good.

My good buddy bought me Katana Zero to play recently, and it rules. It rules hard. It's like all the things I liked about Hotline Miami but with a better aesthetic and more quality of life. It's a pulse-pounding techno-samurai simulator where you can deflect bullets and slow down time, and the frame narrative is cool as shit. Good game. Didn't love it.

Didn't love it almost entirely because I want MORE. Katana Zero is a game that could be INCREDIBLE, it just isn't there yet for me. Some of the mechanics were frustrating, and while the cast of characters, story, world, themes, etc all rule but there's just not enough. Some games do a ton with less, of course. Space Funeral is a perfect length. Katana Zero isn't.

So, I'm giving it a tentative 7. A tentative 7 entirely because it feels like the first four episodes to a twelve episode anime (lol.) So, when the dlc comes out that is longer than the base game, this score will go up. But until I get to spend more time with Zero, Fifteen, Snow, V, etc, it's gonna be there. But god do I want more. 

If you haven't played it though, do so. It's short as hell, I did it in two short sittings but you could easily do it in one.

that netflix shera fanfiction

 

 So I just wrapped up watching the reboot of that goofy bad 80's cartoon She-ra on Netflix with my fiance. Her fifth time watching it, my first. Western cartoons are good, actually.

(not this one)

First, the bad. Well, "bad." This cartoon is really good. Most of my problems with it are mostly just weaknesses in the show's pacing and visuals. The first season is pretty weak in comparison to everything after it, which is a good thing and a bad thing. Like, the back half steals the show. It rules hard! It just means the first half is comparatively weak. Also, the visuals range from serviceable to really good, but there's a lot of really wonky shots. Also, like any show with a 50+ episode count it has some dud episodes.

Now onto the good!

The characters rule hard. This show really understands not only how to instantly characterize someone but then reinforce that characterization. Every single important character is easily understandable and when they do dumb shit or act "illogically" it makes real tangible sense in the writing. Catra is EASILY the best example of this. She's the best character in the show by far, actually. Every action she takes is so understandable even when she's doing dumb/awful shit. She's a Zuko type. You want to see her redeem herself and grow as her bad choices spiral her down an awful path.

Catra RULES

The show manages to have a TON of thematic depth as well. It goes places I REALLY didn't expect. A lot of themes in the latter half reminded me of some really cool things I like, like Attack on Titan with its discussions of the morality of war and the ethics of overwhelming force. Another REALLY STRONG theme it has revolves around destiny and inheritance. Also it has power of friendship done really well, granted I'm an incredible sucker for that to begin with. So much thematic depth in this Netflix cartoon for kids.

The art style also grew on me a lot. All of the redesigns of the classic cartoon characters are wonderful and are so full of imagination and creativity. The standouts for me are probably Entrapta and Catra for sure. I will say that the show has some pretty flat coloring which doesn't lend itself to detail, but it still manages to look good, and when things get more detailed with the shading/coloring the designs hit HARD.

Entrapta is the purple one on the bottom right :)

Netflix She-ra gets compared a lot to magical girl anime shows. I want to say that that comparison, while not unfounded, doesn't feel quite right to me. It reminded me more of really good battle shonen series. Stuff like Yu Yu Hakusho and Dragonball come to mind. It has a large focus on combat and teamwork and interesting powers and their applications. Like, it manages to make "can create magic nets and throw them" into a badass, unique power that looks sick in action. Shit rules.

Also, obviously, I can't talk about She-ra as an LGBT+ person without mentioning how fucking queer this show is. From season one you have a married WLW couple with Spinerella and Nettossa, season 2 introduces Bow's dads, Perfuma is a trans woman, Double Trouble is NB, one of the endgame couples is the GAYEST, and all the women simp for She-ra herself. To steal this next line from two people I know, one of which being my lovely fiance, Legend of Korra barely made it through the elevator doors with Korrasami so Netflix She-ra could earn the gold medal at the relay race SOLO. It's great.

The only characters to kiss onscreen are queer couples!

So yeah. Cartoon good. Really good. What started with a 7/10, solid season 1 gave way to a truly wonderful experience that I can honestly recommend to anyone who likes either cartoons, battle shonen anime, queer shit, or just good art.

STRONG 8 to a light 9, leaning more towards a 9/10 on this one. Go watch it.

Bleach - Stories of the Brave

(I apologize for the lack of images in this blog post. I didn't feel like going out to my computer to grab any pages off of my files and I wanted to get my thoughts out while they were fresh.)

So after a cool month and a half I have finished reading Tite Kubo's Bleach. Huh. Weird. This is a series that has had the reputation of having two good arcs and just declining and declining until a wet fart of an ending. I was also told the same thing about Yu Yu Hakusho. Also, people told me that the art declines in quality as the series goes on and that every arc after Soul Society is just Soul Society again. Why does the internet lie like this?

What I got, as I got with Yu Yu Hakusho, is a series I found myself getting increasingly more and more invested in, especially when the supposed "dip" in quality happened. My favorite arc is easily the Arrancar arc. Alongside that, the final volume of Bleach has hands down some of the best pages in the series, especially the spreads. Now, Bleach is nowhere near as good or consistent as Yu Yu Hakusho, that's for sure, but it's absolutely also nowhere near the level of bad that so many people say it is.

What I got, as I got with Yu Yu Hakusho is a core cast of lovable characters that all get their times to shine, with an ever-expanding cast of side-characters that are all interesting and unique in their own ways and they all have really interesting and fun designs. Like, wow, Tite Kubo can design the shit out of a character.

But yeah, I just want to touch briefly on the three BIGGEST critiques I always hear about Bleach and why I think they aren't really like, correct? Correct isn't the right word, since opinions are opinions, but that they're just not that rock-solid.

First, that the art declines in quality. Art styles evolve. The art at the end of Bleach, including the paneling and fight choreography, is just as good if not better than early Bleach. The tone is different, but that's because the tone of the story is different by that point. It's like Dragonball vs Dragonball Z. Or looking at Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Part 1 vs Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Part 8. Well, the Jojo's one is a little drastic, but that's kinda the point. The art in Bleach is consistently great, with a sense of style and cool-itude that persists throughout. Also, Kubo from the start of the series was always super fond of using the "no background" trick, it's not overused in the final arc.

Second, that Kubo repeats arc structure. Which is like, wrong as far as the manga is concerned. Supereyepatchwolf, in his "The Fall of Bleach" video, describes the Soul Society arc as "Ichigo and his friends [entering] a world they don't understand [and] face down an ancient and patriarchal society in a desperate battle to save their friend." Which describes Soul Society, yes, but then he goes on to ascribe that exact same description to Arrancar/Hueco Mundo. Yes the arc includes Ichigo and some friends busting into Hueco Mundo to save Orihime, but the actual themes of the arc are different.

Soul Society has those themes of rebelling against society, coming of age, etc etc. Hueco Mundo is about the consequences of being a revolutionary so blinded by idealism that you lose yourself in the pursuit of power. Characters like Aizen and Grimmjow are so blinded by the want to be stronger that they'll do anything to get there. Tosen is blinded, literally, by his thirst for revenge against the Soul Society. Alongside that, the arcs set up in Soul Society for characters like Gin and Tosen get expanded upon and wrapped up. Aizen is cool as fuck.

Fullbring is just OBJECTIVELY not that at all, as it's basically a Jojo's Bizarre Adventure plot, coupled with a really cool explanation for Chad and Orihime's powers. Hell, the Thousand Year Blood War is basically a reverse Soul Society, while also doubling as this clear love letter to the series it's capping off.

A sub-critique I hear about Bleach is that Kubo's cast is fucking giant. Which is valid. There's a lot of Bleach characters. But like, not to be pedantic, but almost every fucking battle shonen has a huge cast. There's almost no repeats in characterization outside of a handful of mad scientists. They all also look cool. (My favorites are Shinji, Chad, and Grimmjow.)

Finally, people claim that the characters in Bleach, especially Ichigo, are static. Which is pretty Not Correct. Outside of typical things like powerups and whatnot, which in a battle shonen are used to physically represent emotional/spiritual growth alongside general strength, a vast majority of the characters introduced at the start and in Soul Society, those who make up the largest portion of the reoccurring cast, are different. Byakuya changes a lot. Orihime grows stronger and more independent. The end to Kenpachi's arc in The Thousand Year Blood War fucking rules. Uryu grows so much by the end. Ichigo, while not as full of attitude as he once was, is changed for, I think, the better.

Ichigo is no Yusuke Urameshi, sure, but he's still cool. The somewhat selfish delinquent-but-not boy is, by the end, a man with conviction to help those he cares about. Cliche, yes, but personally I like that. I really, really like the "power of friendship" stuff. Our world is full of horrible shit, and stories about camaraderie and the importance of bonds between people are such a necessity in my eyes. It helps that he's cool. Did I mention he's cool?

But also, characters "not changing much" isn't that great of a critique in my eyes, especially in a battle shonen. The appeal of battle shonen, to me, is not the overarching story arc. A satisfying overarching story is a bonus, yes, but for me I care more about the different ways that the genre iterates on itself. How a series tackles different arc structures. The "endless shonen" formula of "this arc ends -> Short cool down period and then the new big bad shows up -> rinse and repeat" makes for a cozy, fast, easy read. Especially as you learn the shorthand of the genre. However I also love Goku and the Piccolo Jr. arc so hey, maybe I'm just dumb.

I will never experience the weekly read of Bleach, which I could imagine being slow. Lots Of Shit Goes Down At The Same Time in the final arc. However, on the binge, I was enraptured. I love the characters, and the fact that almost literally everyone gets their final moment is just something I love so much. I love how fucking off-the-wall the powers get by the end. The powers for the Quincies are all so fucking weird and unique, even by Bleach standards. (Like really, a dude dressed like a wrestler with a familar that cheers for him to buff him and heal him? Sick! A dude who can control the toxicity of different substances?? SICK!!!)

I can safely say I was never bored the entire time I was reading, and the vast majority of the time I was actively having a great time reading. I even teared up a bit at the last chapter. While not the best battle shonen I've ever read, it's one I'm damn glad I went through. I'm flip-flopping between a 7 and an 8, but it's closer to an 8 than a 7 for me, so I guess I'll say its a cool 8/10 for me.

(How I rate things:
10 (Incredible): an absolute fucking favorite of mine. I probably cried a lot, and I revisit it a lot. Makes me big think often.
9 (Fantastic): Probably made me cry or think a lot. Enjoyed very much.
8 (Great): A series I liked a lot.
7 (Good): A series I liked a fair bit.
6 (Fine): A series that was fine and that I enjoyed enough.
5 (Okay): A series that was a-ok in my books. Probably fell short of my expectations.
4 (Eh): A series that fell very short.
3 (Ehh): Ehhhhh
2 (Bad): Self explanatory.
1 (Terrible): Terrible.)

Golden Kamuy’s author makes me feel good :)

I’d like to think it’s a pretty safe opinion that a vast majority of male characters are designed with the appeal of a “power fantasy” or adjacent concept. Attractive male characters in pop culture all frequently pretty buff, toned dudes with physically unhealthy builds (looking at you, Wolverine in the movies. Hugh Jackman deserved better). 

Outside of specific genres, the male body is not “objectified” in the same ways as the female body. Captain America may inadvertently appeal to the female gaze, but he is first and foremost an “ideal” for boys to strive for, unlike Black Widow, a character designed first and foremost to titillate.

I also probably don’t just speak for myself here when I say I think it’s nice when an author decides to create a role model for boys or even, for lack of a better word, celebrate the masculine body in a way that isn’t “this is what a man should be!” but instead “I want to celebrate men.” I think that sentence makes sense.

Anyway, the author of Golden Kamuy, a manga that is pretty homoerotic in both subtext and visuals, had this to say when asked about the appeal of his series:

What point in Golden Kamuy that you want readers to pay attention to?

“The beautiful nudity of men. I want to keep drawing the naked bodies of men, be they pot-bellied or with thick chest hair.” (https://www.google.com/amp/s/kamuycentral.wordpress.com/2017/09/20/translation-interview-with-noda-satoru-after-winning-the-manga-taisho-award-2016/amp/)

Seriously, shit is GAY.
Reading that quote made me feel kind of emotional I guess? It’s not often that, especially in an award winning comic series that is pretty popular over the pond, men are allowed to be described as “beautiful.”
Like, I’m a fat guy. In pop culture, fat guys are funny and ugly. Fat guys aren’t handsome or beautiful or role models. Fat guys even when they get the girl are still funny and ugly. So I find myself getting emotional when an author like Satoru Noda describes pot-bellies as “beautiful.”
It’s a similar feeling I got when I first watched Steven Universe. I was in high school at the time, but seeing the hero of a cartoon for kids be this weird, fat little soft boy who isn’t ridiculed for his appearance and is allowed to be weird and fat and soft and it be treated as a good thing made me so happy.
Or even reading some Superman comics! Superman is usually seen as this built, jacked guy. Henry Cavill is one of the hottest dudes in Hollywood for fuck’s sake. So when in a comic like All-Star Superman or Superman for All Seasons, Clark Kent has a nontraditional build, one where he’s more linebacker than bodybuilder, I thought it was nice.

For real, Supes in All Seasons is a LARGE BOY.
So basically this is just a short shout out for Golden Kamuy. That offbeat little series with a lot of passion and heart that makes me feel good about myself and my body in ways that no other media really does.
Side note: I know that, in the grand scheme of things, the way the female form is treated in pop culture is way more problematic. I’m not trying to downplay that, I’m just talking about my own experiences as a fat guy.

Feelin' a Little Fooly Cooly

The other day my buddy, in a group chat we share dedicated to posting music, posted the song "Crazy Sunshine" by The Pillows, otherwise known as the FLCL band. FLCL, for those not in the know, is one of my absolute favorite pieces of media. Anyway, it hasn't been that long since I re-watched it, but listening to Crazy Sunshine almost always throws me back. The guitar riff, the lyrics, everything gives me a Ratatouille-ass flashback to when I first experienced FLCL as a kid. That night, I drove down the road to pick the love of my life up from work and blasted The Pillows as loud as I could, and I cried a bit.

I feel like most kids who watch FLCL don't get FLCL at all. We just saw the pretty colors and frenetic animation and heard the incredible soundtrack and just got sucked in on that alone, but as I revisit it throughout the years it hits me just how much shit there is in it. Like, for a six episode OVA it crams in so much style and passion and substance that it's almost suffocating. Many people hate FLCL after an initial watch, even, due to how much it is. Which I totally get. When something is this frenetic, this jam-packed with imagery and with a whip-fast script and visuals that are so detailed and fast-paced, it becomes a lot to take in. But it's a show that, I feel, is so worthy of analysis and dissection.

There's this reoccurring "theme" in FLCL (original). Characters are constantly asking "what is FLCL?" And I feel that FLCL is at the same time undefinable, since there's no clear answer, and also that FLCL is FLCL. It's this idea that life is always going to be crazy and unpredictable. One day you will feel like everything is going a mile a minute, some zany or intense shit will be going on and you cannot catch a breath. But the next day you'll have a quiet moment to yourself. One where you can reflect on things, catch up with a friend, etc. Also, obviously FLCL means that you're never not going to be, at least to some degree, "childish."

Every character in FLCL is clearly reaching for some concrete form of "maturity." And the whole damn point is that true "maturity" is dumb bullshit for idiots and that you're always going to be a kid inside, even if you feel like you aren't. You're always going to have your "childish" preferences, how you don't like sour drinks or spicy foods or have a soft spot for a cartoon you loved as a kid. And that that's OK. It's OK to feel like a kid, that you're not fully "grown up" because life is about "growing up." And sure, yeah, lots of media has that theme, don't get me wrong. But how many pieces of media deftly weave its theme into basically every facet of production?

Like, how the frenetic animation style mimics cartoons that I'm sure much of the production staff watched as a kid, or how the music sounds like music that a high-schooler would blast loud on his headphones late at night in bed. Or how everyone and everything in the show pushes the thematic through-line to the end. How there's constant allusions and references to media from the (relative) past, or how the kids in the show all try and mimic adults, but all the adults act like kids.

And sure, people will pull the "it doesn't mean anything" card because of how "zany" the show is, but I feel that betrays the artistry of the piece as a whole. Something can be wacky and zany and still, on the same hand, be poignant and thought-provoking. Subtext isn't just for slow, contemplative literature. Subtext can also exist in a show about a lil' boy and his goofy robot friend and hot alien roommate. But anyway I'm just repeating the same shit every other person talks about. If you want some good-ass FLCL analysis go watch the copious amount of Digibro videos, or Goat Jesus' video on FLCL and Bildungsroman. What I think I'm here to haphazardly gush about is how FLCL makes me feel in my soul. To gush about what I think FLCL means.

How the music of FLCL, the visuals of FLCL, the quotes and characters and themes of FLCL all make my heart warm. FLCL, much like many of my other favorite pieces of media, is this comforting thing to me. This wonderful piece of media that resonates me on like, a cellular level. Even if I didn't quite understand what my brain was processing as a kid, I felt I was experiencing something special. Even if I didn't have the cultural and authorial contexts in mind, how it's some of Gainax's best and brightest pouring their hearts and souls into their dream project, I felt its energy radiate from my shitty iPod touch screen and into my life.

Holy Moly Life Gets Busy!

I missed last week, which sucks, but I want to at least make a short post this week since I want to try and do this weekly!! Aaah!!!!!

My class schedule is pretty booked and my one seminar is a lot of work but it's a really cool seminar so I'm going to explain it. It's a project-based class where we are combing the archives of the university to find examples of black students in the past who may have been ignored or actively "erased" from the university's records. The professor is this dope guy who makes the majority of the white people in the class uncomfortable by dropping one liners like "black bodies are the defining commodity of America" and it's the best!!!

I also started my new part-time job at a supermarket deli and it's exhausting and draining but not as exhausting or draining as the movie theater I worked at!!!!! AAAAHHH!!!!!!

LIFE IS HAAARD!!!!!!!!!